Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I should first like to thank the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe and its organs for kindly inviting me to speak to you.
I am particularly pleased to find myself in Strasbourg today, addressing
the oldest and most representative of the European institutions,
which is this year celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of its
inception. Thirty years of hopes and disappointments, of progress
and of obstacles, but, in any event, of untiring toil towards the
union of the European peoples, through which the Council of Europe
has responded positively to the hopes expressed in the Message to
Europeans.

In addressing this Assembly I cannot forget the crucial part
it played in Spain’s accession to the Council of Europe, causing
it to depart in some ways from custom, in both form and timing,
so that its faith and hope in the transition to democracy in Spain
might prevail. For it was this Assembly which, with an impatience
which we Spaniards greatly appreciated, was the first to put its
full trust in the legitimate representatives of the Spanish people,
as soon as it gained control of its destiny. But, to go beyond the
specific case of my country, I should like to pay tribute here to
this Assembly for its essential contribution both to the realisation
of the concept of European unity and to the furtherance of values
which are an inherent part of our civilisation, particularly the
freedom, dignity and fundamental rights of the individual, which
form the basis for political stability and social peace.

From 1949 to 1979, no significant event occurred, nor did
any way open offering cause for hope, without this Assembly making
a real contribution, or ensuring it of a resounding impact, if indeed
it had not already taken the initiative itself.

Mr President, the unity of Europe and of Europeans is a reality
which existed before plans for European union. We Europeans have
been aware of it throughout our chequered history. It was this view
of European society which induced Francisco de Vitoria to study
in Paris and Juan Luis Vives to teach in Louvain and Oxford, while El
Greco painted in Toledo and Domenico Scarlatti composed in Madrid,
to mention only a few examples from my country.

The European fact is the basis for a European plan, a European
design. It is to this that the European organisations respond, towards
this that the oldest of them, the Council of Europe, directs its
efforts, well aware that, in the words of Robert Schuman,

“Europe, before becoming a military alliance or an economic
entity, must be a cultural community.”

What are the factors which constitute this European identity?
Of all those which have been proposed I should like to emphasise
three, because it seems to me that they also characterise the work
of the Council of Europe and should continue to be the basis for
all its activities: humanism, diversity and universality.

If there is a driving principle in European civilisation,
it is the primacy of human values, of mankind and of the individual.

The best example of this key concept, and at the same time
the Council of Europe’s most remarkable contribution, is the Convention
for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which establishes
an as yet unrivalled international system of guarantees in which
Spain was included a few days ago when it deposited the instrument
of ratification.

Although we can all consider ourselves satisfied with the
results obtained, we can also feel encouraged to go further. This
Assembly, which played such an important and dynamic part in the
adoption of the European Convention on Human Rights, is particularly
aware of the need to broaden the range of rights to be protected by
adding economic, social and cultural rights, and by giving human
rights a new dimension and new frontiers. Thus, after the important
declaration adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 27 April 1978,
the Parliamentary Assembly adopted Recommendation 838 on widening
the scope of the European Convention on Human Rights, the impact
of which is undeniable. Furthermore, it is a well-known fact that
the European Communities have proposed that they should accede as
an entity to the European Convention on Human Rights. This proposal
is both an obvious demonstration of the vitality of the Council
of Europe’s most eminent achievement and an important step towards
the gradual realisation of Europe’s most significant contribution
to human history: the dignity and freedom of mankind.

The Council of Europe’s work devoted to man, his rights and
his fundamental freedoms prompts me to mention some of its aspects.
First, the measures taken to bring about a constant improvement
in the environment and the quality of life; second, the efforts
to help migrant workers and their families, for whom whatever is
done can never be enough; and, finally, the deep concern for youth
and for stimulating the enthusiasm of young Europeans for the construction
of Europe. This last aspect is essential, for the Council of Europe
has never, at any time, ignored the need to be concerned with the
European citizen of tomorrow, the need to encourage the young to
participate in a noble task which spans the generations: to this
end, it set up the European Youth Foundation and the European Youth
Centre, within which young Spaniards and their organisations are
already actively participating.

Pluralism and diversity are also characteristic features of
Europe. It is Europe’s allotted task to unite and integrate the
European peoples in accordance with their true genius, which lies
in diversity, so as to open up to the world the path it pursues
– that of organised freedoms.

This idea was expressed by the European Communities in their
document on “the European identity”, when they declared that diversity
of cultures within a common civilisation, profession of the same
values and determination to build up unity in diversity is what
gives the European identity its originality and vitality.

It is not incompatible with the preservation of diversity
– quite the reverse, in fact – that the Council of Europe should
concern itself ever more deeply with the grave dangers for economic
development of territorial imbalances, which set Northern Europe
against Southern Europe, Central Europe against peripheral Europe. The
harmonious process of European unification demands that we should
tackle this problem resolutely, and in that endeavour the Parliamentary
Assembly has served as conscience and stimulus by encouraging the efforts
of governments and other European institutions.

Europe cannot truly be Europe if its influence is not felt
throughout the world. That is why the process of building up Europe
cannot be a parochial self-centred task. Europe must, on the contrary,
be very heedful of the changes occurring in the modern world, including
the increasingly universal character of social relations and of the
problems which confront mankind.

Let us build up Europe, said our compatriot Salvador de Madariaga,
not only as a common market but also as a great human family, and
let us keep this principle intact in all our institutions.

The universal interest which already inspired the founding
fathers of the Council of Europe remains present in its work, and
particularly in that of the Parliamentary Assembly, which is ever
heedful of the fresh challenges of science and technology and of
the constantly changing chessboard of international relations.

The European spirit is a spirit of dialogue. And you will
not be surprised that I, who come from Spain, would especially stress
an aspect of this world-wide dialogue which is particularly dear
to our hearts: I refer to the historic need for a dialogue between
Europe and the Americas. The example of the Council of Europe has already
had a deep significance for the American countries, as the Convention
of San José de Costa Rica on human rights bears witness. But there
is also much we can receive, because all genuine dialogue is give
and take. You may be sure that in developing these exchanges and
seeing that they bear fruit you will receive from Spain nothing
but encouragement, support and enthusiasm.

Mr President, it has been said that Spain sees itself reflected
in Europe and nothing could be more natural, because if humanism,
diversity and universality are the features which characterise Europe,
the same applies to a high degree to Spain, whose European commitment
is quite clear.

Much remains to be done in the task of building up Europe.
We still have a long road to travel, strewn with obstacles and intersected
by crossroads. The important thing is that we have decided to take
this road and to follow it, all of us together, since there is no
difficulty that we cannot overcome if we show the necessary determination
and imagination.

And with man as the starting-point and ultimate goal... As
was said by Miguel de Unamuno – a Basque, a Spaniard, a European
and a universal figure:

“The final purpose of history and
of humanity is man, every man, every one of us... The individual
is the ultimate aim of the universe. We who are Spaniards feel this
in our hearts.”

Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you.

THE PRESIDENT

“The King
of Spain I always honoured.” That is the sentence that I had the
good fortune to sing more times than any other as it is the last
sentence of the first verse of the Dutch national anthem. “The King
of Spain I always honoured.” Today I realise exactly how true that
sentence is.

If all my colleagues had been Dutch, if singing had been allowed
under our Rules of Procedure and if the interpreters had been trained
to sing at La Scala, Milan, I would have suggested that we should
all now sing that part of the Netherlands national anthem.

May I, Your Majesty, instead express our gratitude, which
the spoken word is inadequate to convey well enough. Your message
was marked by the traditionally Christian and humanist thinking
which marks your entire reign, which is also a liberal reign influenced
by the great philosopher Salvador de Madariaga.